Clarity is taking over the world … of financial markets

More and more countries are insisting on clear financial information. One of the latest to announce changes is Singapore. The Monetary Authority of Singapore wants issuers of financial products to write their prospectuses in plain English.

Of course, this move is nothing new to us here in New Zealand. The Financial Markets Authority has been leading the way for some years now. It expects ‘clear, concise, and effective’ guidance for investors and other participants in financial markets.

And here at Write, by helping organisations achieve the WriteMark, we’ve been involved in some award-winning projects to make financial information clearer.

Proponents of plain language and supporters of programmes to develop financial literacy all agree that society as a whole benefits from clear financial information. Many have made the link between lack of financial literacy and the global financial crisis. We’ve drawn attention to the language of money in earlier posts.